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3ds Max sneak peek: image-based lighting in mental ray

Autodesk has posted another 3ds Max preview video: this time showing the new Skylight Illumination from IBL option, which enables mental ray to render scenes using an environment map as a skylight properly.

The update cuts render times for such scenes and reduces risk of flickering when rendering animations.

As with Autodesk’s original sneak peek at the updated Nitrous viewport, feedback has been mixed, with several users pointing out that the feature has been available in the standalone version of mental ray for some years.

As ever, Autodesk has posted a disclaimer that the technology is not guaranteed to form part of any particular future release, but with 3ds Max 2014 being unveiled next week, you can draw your own conclusions.